Vehicles may often include a spare tire well or receptacle in which a spare tire is stored. Often these spare tire wells are disposed in a rear of the vehicle and are attached to a floor pan of the vehicle. Typically such spare tire wells are formed of metal materials and are attached to the vehicle using mechanical fasteners, welding, bonding, and other types of connections that require complicated assembly processes. Further, such prior art spare tire receptacles or wells transmit various noises and vibrations to a vehicle that are undesirable.
There is therefore a need in the art for an improved spare tire receptacle that results in a weight reduction compared to current prior art metallic spare tire receptacles. There is also a need in the art for a spare tire receptacle that reduces the number of parts and simplifies an installation or manufacturing of a vehicle. There is also a need in the art for a spare tire receptacle for a vehicle that has improved NVH performance and provides a structural design to accommodate forces applied to the spare tire receptacle.